


To Steal and Bestow

by Kaleran



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: 5+1 Things, Consensual Kissing, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Musical Timeline, Non-Consensual Kissing, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9144202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaleran/pseuds/Kaleran
Summary: Five times Valjean kissed Javert and one time Javert kissed Valjean.





	

The first time Jean Valjean had kissed Javert, he was a prison guard in a place where everything smelled of salt. He had been holding Valjean's yellow passport when Valjean's chains clanged together and Valjean's mouth was suddenly on his. It was not a nice kiss. Valjean's teeth caught on Javert's lip, his tongue forcing its way into Javert's mouth lewdly and strong, calloused hands wrinkling his perfectly neat uniform. To say Javert had been surprised was an understatement. He had never kissed anyone before; not like it mattered. To wish such things would make him weak. Javert fought him, trying to push him off with a hand to chest, but Valjean's grip on his uniform was strong and unyielding. Valjean was pulled off of him by a pair of guards, his lip bleeding where Javert had sliced it with his teeth.

"It should be back to the lash for you," Javert had said in a near snarl, quickly wiping the blood from his mouth. Valjean's saliva tasted foul on his tongue.

Valjean smiled at him like he had won something, the blood staining his teeth. He looked feral. If he had the power to do so, Javert would have given him the double chain for such an action and an additional six months. As it was, Valjean was released from his shackles and Javert had thrown Valjean's few belongings and his passport at him as quickly as possible before fleeing to his quarters to wash his mouth of the taste of him.

He did not watch him leave, but the incident lingered in his mind for far longer than he liked.

-

The second time Valjean had kissed him, he had become an Inspector of police and Valjean had been a man named Monsieur Madeleine who was the mayor of a town that smelled of the sea. Javert had kept his suspicions about the mayor to himself and had instead devoted himself to his duty. Madeleine had occasionally accompanied him on his rounds, speaking of the state of the hospitals and the schools and other such inconsequential things. It was admirable, Javert had thought, how stubborn such a quiet and easygoing man could be.

"Come to supper with me," Madeleine would insist with that slight gentle smile he sometimes wore.

Javert would deny him every time, of course. He had his patrols to walk and there were arrests to be made and complaints to file.

"Perhaps another time," Madeline would say, not looking disappointed in the slightest. A few days later he would ask again, then again, countless times until Javert had caved at last on a few rare occasions.

Once, when they were about to part ways late at night at the crossroad, Madeleine had drawn himself close and pressed his lips against the corner of Javert's mouth. It was over in a flash, just the barest feeling of Madeleine's lips before it was gone. It was almost a thoughtless and impersonal action, except Javert knew well that Madeleine was not the kind of man to do such a thing so casually. When Javert had recovered, the mayor was already halfway down the street.

Neither of them brought it up the next time they saw each other and Javert resolved to not think about it. Yet again, the memory lingered and he found himself thinking of it for weeks afterward with something approaching wistfulness before scowling and scolding himself.

-

The third time Valjean kissed him was not too long after the second. A woman was lying dead and Javert had the smile of a wolf baring its fangs. He was furious. Valjean had lied and deceived him and now Javert had him cornered at last.

"Give me three days to retrieve this woman's child," Valjean had asked. He was still in the mayor's clothes. They looked wrong on him, now that he knew who and what 'Madeleine' truly was.

"You dare take me for a fool?" Javert hurled back in what was practically a roar.

"You have murdered this woman," Valjean told him, quiet and dangerous. Javert did not care.

"You will come with me!" he demanded, stepping forward to grab Valjean by the collar to forcibly drag him to jail.

Then Valjean had found himself a weapon and they were trading blows, but Valjean had always been the stronger of the two of them and captured each of Javert's wrists in a tight grip. Javert snarled, spitting in rage, and then Valjean had pressed his lips to Javert's. Javert figured that he should have expected this, given Valjean's past behavior, but this time the kiss was almost gentle. Javert had recoiled, struggling in Valjean's grasp. The last thing he had expected was for Valjean to be gentle. Criminals were not gentle. Then, Valjean had released him. His eyes were sad, which was such a bizarre thing to notice when one was trying to arrest a dangerous man.

"I am sorry," Valjean had said. The next thing Javert knew, he was waking up on the floor of the hospital, his head pounding fiercely and Valjean nowhere in sight. Javert had been spitting in rage at his quarry tricking him for so long and then so easily escaping him. And Valjean had kissed him again. He did not know what Valjean wanted from him with all his kisses. Whatever it was, Javert refused to give it to him.

-

The fourth time Valjean kissed him, Javert was bound with rope and was walking to his death. The barricade behind them was alive with shouts and gunfire- the lives of dragoons and schoolboys alike lost for a pointless cause. It was fitting how Valjean would be the one to kill him. Once, he had been Valjean's jailer. Now their situations had reversed and he was at the mercy of his prey. Javert had been ready to die by Valjean's hand- and then he did not. He snarled and cursed at him, even going so far as laying his hands on him, but Valjean pushed his hands away with ease, always gentle even when exercising his strength. It infuriated him. He was pinned to the wall of the alleyway with Valjean's arm across his chest.

"I hold no blame against you," Valjean told him in a fierce whisper. "You are free."

"You should kill me," Javert snarled back.

"I will not."

"It would be the natural order of things."

"I will not," Valjean said again, this time softer and with a note of something Javert did not recognize.

Valjean kissed him then, and it was desperate and deep and Javert was so startled he did not fight it until it was over. By then, Valjean had whispered his address in his ear and told him to go, all while pointing his pistol at the sky. There is no time to ask what Valjean meant by that kiss. They had all been different and it confused him as to why that was so. The shot fired behind him and he fled. Javert was distracted for the rest of the day, wondering at Valjean's actions and words and what he had meant by that kiss.

For the first time, he doubted.

-

The fifth time was on the bridge. Valjean had a firm hold on his elbow, despite his obvious exhaustion, and spoke to him in quiet yet forceful tones. Javert could not stand it. He did not deserve to be saved, least of all by Valjean.

"Let me go," Javert growled at him, and even as he said it he could hear the slightly manic tone in his own voice. It wavered and he hated it.

"Please," Valjean said, practically begging him. Javert snapped at him, yelled and struggled, but still Valjean did not let go. He wished Valjean would give up on him and leave him to the river. He wished he was not thinking of all the times Valjean had proven his assumptions wrong. Most of all, he wished he was not thinking of all the times Valjean had kissed him.

"Please. Come down," Valjean asked him again. He sounded as tired of the chase as Javert felt.

Javert looked down at the river, roaring in the dark like a siren's cry, then surrendered. It surprised him how much it hurt to step down. Valjean took his face in his hands, his thumbs passing through his whiskers, and brushed his bangs from his eyes in what was practically a caress. This time, he was not surprised when Valjean kissed him and he surrendered to that too. It is warm and familiar- almost a comfort. This one was again different from all the others. It lingered and Valjean stayed close after he pulled away, his breath warm on his lips. They did not speak of it. Instead, they walked, Valjean speaking to him in soft tones while Javert was silent. Their shoulders brushed often and they ended up at Javert's apartment somehow. He did not remember giving Valjean his address. He cursed his own feet and how they had lead Valjean straight to his door.

"Will you come to tea tomorrow with me?" Valjean asked, and Javert was so bewildered by the events of the night that he hardly registered the question before nodding his agreement. Valjean smiled at him, pressing his arm. It felt just as intimate as when he had touched his face so gently.

-

The first time Javert kissed Valjean, he insisted that it was justice.

It had been months since the bridge and Valjean had not kissed him again, but Javert found himself thinking of it often anyway. They had been sitting in the garden and Valjean had said something nonsensical about Cosette leaving him for Marius. He had smiled with so much bitterness that Javert found himself unable to do simply nothing. So he kissed him. It was remarkably easy. Valjean's lips were warm like the sun and soft under his and he wondered if Valjean had felt like this the other times he had kissed him; like his heart had suddenly grown lighter in his chest. When he drew away he did not quite know what to do. Valjean blinked at him, his hand hesitantly coming up to touch his lips with his fingers.

"What was that for?" he asked, soft and fragile.

"You were saying ridiculous things again," Javert told him, trying to scold him but it did not come out as harsh as he intended.

"Oh," Valjean said simply. "But, you...?" he trailed off, the question unfinished. It was easy to deduce what he was going to ask.

"You have kissed me five times. It was only just," he explained. It felt like a lie, when surely it was only the truth. "Stole them, really. Always a thief." It came out fond. It was not supposed to be fond.

"Ah," said Valjean. Then, "Five?"

"The first in Tuloun, the second in the streets of Montreuil-sur-Mer, the third at the hospital, the fourth at the barricades, and the fifth on," he still could not think of that night without pain, "the fifth on the Pont au Change." He could recite them easily, the incidents forever imprinted in his mind.

"Oh." Valjean was silent for a moment. A tiny, almost unnoticeable smile appeared on his face. "Then I owe you four more. To pay you back for the ones I have stolen."

Javert could only stare at him in confusion. He could not really be suggesting what Javert thought he was. Such things between men were sinful, if not necessarily illegal. Not that those reasons stopped Javert from thinking about Valjean in those ways when Valjean would touch his elbow for too long or smiled gently at him.

"Must I steal them back?" Javert asked, almost afraid of the answer. "Theft is against the law, as you well know."

Valjean's smile grew, this smile one of happiness. It looked far better on his face than bitterness. "If you like, but I would return them freely. I no longer wish to be a thief. I would never try to make you do anything you do not wish to."

"I wish it," Javert said, so quietly it was practically a whisper. An admission. Once, he thought that desiring such things was a weakness. He did not feel weak when asking this of Valjean.

"Then I give them gladly," Valjean said, equally soft, leaning closer to him.

The sixth time Jean Valjean kissed Javert, he accepted it willingly as Valjean clasped their hands together. Valjean was smiling against his lips and Javert decided that he liked this kiss most of all.


End file.
